


Swear (not) By The Moon

by DemigodWolf



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Akan is adorable and the baby even though he's older than Zuko, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Destiny, Do Not Mess with Ukiyo, Fluff, Healing from past traumatic events, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Jet is an asshole but a lovable one, Just ask Sima, Lieutenant Jee is suffering, Multi, Slow Burn, Soulmates, Spirits, Time Travel, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, confused gaang, seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:28:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28654257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemigodWolf/pseuds/DemigodWolf
Summary: Destiny works in mysterious ways.Zuko died when Azula hit him with lighting during the Agni Kai. And then he woke up.A Time Travel AU with a healthy dose of a Soulmate AU mixed in for the spice. Zuko swore that he'd do better this time around but the Spirits are making itso damn hard.
Relationships: Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Jet & Zuko (Avatar), Jet/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Zuko & Zuko's Crew (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar) & Everyone
Comments: 42
Kudos: 222





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!! 
> 
> I am very excited for this fic to finally be uploaded. I have been working on it for some time and I finally have enough written to start updating. 
> 
> Note that updates will be irregular since I am a final year journalism student and it is kicking my behind without remorse so please be mindful! 
> 
> Any question you may have about the fic, the update schedule or if you just wanna chat, you can send to my tumblr [Here!](https://mycapofjetko.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Enjoy!

The last thing Zuko remembered was pain. A cold, blinding pain on the center of his chest, a sick laughter in his ears and a pleading voice telling him to open his eyes, _please Zuko open your eyes, please, please, you can’t do this, please, plea-_

When Zuko opened his eyes, he was in a ship, a dangerously familiar one, a dark room with a fire nation tapestry hanging on the metal wall.

The last thing Zuko remembered was Azula hitting him with lightning, precise enough to kill him, Katara not fast enough with her water to heal him. The last thing Zuko remembered was dying.

Zuko quickly realized that something was wrong. His body felt weird. He lifted his hand to run it through his hair, but found a shaved head and a high ponytail instead.

“No, no,” he whispered, sitting up on his bed and reaching for the mirror. He stared at himself, trying to make sense of the situation.

It didn’t feel like a dream. No, dreams to him were never this peaceful. He tried to firebend and found that he still could, his fire felt good to him, warm, just like it did after he found the Old Masters with Aang.

Did he die? When Azula hit him with lighting? No, that couldn’t be right. If he was dead, then why was he here?

Did he travel through time?

**“Ah, good, you got it.”**

Zuko almost burned his whole room down from the sudden voice, quickly scanning his room and finding that he was alone.

He had never heard that voice before in his life. He couldn’t tell if it was male or female, but it felt warm, almost too warm and he was suddenly glad that it came in the form of a whisper because he felt like if it was any louder than that, he would be burned from the inside out.

 **“Easy, young firebender, I bring you no harm,”** the voice said, closer to him than the last time, but still a whisper.

“Who are you?” He asked, feeling no fear, but only cautiousness.

He felt the heat before he saw the small flame next to him, barely bigger than his fist, but its colors were as breathtaking as the dragons’.

“Agni,” Zuko breathed, awe seeping into his voice.

**“You are quick to recognize me, young Prince. I am glad.”**

“What’s going on?” _Why am I here?_

**“You died, Prince Zuko.”**

Zuko had already gathered that much himself, but hearing it brought a new sense of dread and sadness.

“Oh. The- then why am I here?”

**“In her madness, Princess Azula broke the rules of the Agni Kai and attacked Master Katara. Your death was not planned, young Prince.”**

Zuko thought the words over before accepting them as fact. Yes, Azula had gone crazy and attacked Katara. And in the whole madness, Zuko had found himself going in front of Katara, taking the blow, and he had died for it.

The flame breathed with him and spoke.

**“You get a second chance, Prince Zuko.”**

“Why?” Zuko couldn’t help but ask.

**“Because your first was taken from you. Do not get killed again, young Prince. The other Spirits will not allow for this to happen a second time.”**

And with that, Agni was gone.

Zuko let out a deep breath before standing up and going to his door. His mind was running, dates and places going in and out as he tried to make out the timeline he was in.

If he was still in the ship, that meant that Admiral Zhao hadn’t come to them yet. That was good, they might have time to get away before he did.

He had to go to his uncle.

As soon as he opened his door, he saw one of his crew men walking down the corridor and Agni forgive him, he didn’t remember his name. He’d do a better job this time around.

“Hey!” Zuko said, sharper than he’d like, but he’d apologize another time. The crew man turned to him, did a small bow and waited. Zuko bit the inside of his cheek, he really didn’t like this. “Do you know where my uncle is?”

“He’s at the front of the ship, Prince Zuko,” the crew man said, still in a bow and Zuko nodded, realized that the man couldn’t see him and spoke.

“Thank you,” Zuko said, turning around and going to find his uncle, and if he had stayed a second later, he would have seen the shocked look on the crew man’s face.

Zuko found his uncle quickly enough. He went straight to him, not letting himself pause at the familiar faces that were dead in his first life –and how weird it was to think that this was his second one, if he thought about it more he’d get a headache.

“Uncle!” he said, putting a stop at the idle chatter that was going around.

“Ah, there you are dear nephew!” Iroh greeted him with a smile. “I was just about to go get you. Admiral Zhao sent a letter that he’ll be here at tomorrow’s dusk.”

Zuko felt dread crash into him in cold waves and he gritted his teeth.

“Uncle,” he said, trying to keep panic out of his voice. “I need to speak with you for a moment.” He didn’t wait for his uncle’s response and turned around to go back to his room, knowing that the other man would follow him.

As soon as he entered his room, Zuko could feel Agni’s residue. He waited for his uncle and from the older man’s wide eyes, Zuko could see that Iroh could feel it as well.

Iroh hid his surprised look quickly and Zuko was reminded that in his first life, he was a different man. Talk about Spirits was only good for tales around the fire, not something to be considered as serious. What a fool he was.

“Uncle,” he started. “I want you to answer me honestly to what I am about to ask you.”

Iroh took a seat at the low table in the center of the room, beckoning Zuko to do the same.

“You look troubled, nephew.” Did he? Zuko believed that he had become good at hiding his emotions. “Should I call for tea?”

“Maybe later,” Zuko said, taking a deep sigh. Here goes nothing, he thought. “Uncle,” he started. “What are your real views about the war?” He knew he had to start there. He had to ease his uncle into what happened to him in his previous life, and to what was about to happen.

Zuko saw his uncle’s fingers unconsciously move as if searching for a cup of tea and he regretted his decision to not call for a cup or two.

“What brought this on, Prince Zuko?” Iroh asked.

“Please just answer my question, uncle.”

“Very well,” Iroh said, taking in a breath. “I do not agree with the war,” he said slowly, taking in Zuko’s expression and when he found no tensing up from the younger boy, he grew relaxed in his talking. “Your father and grandfather and great-grandfather’s way of dealing with the other nations is vile and unjust and has only brought pain and suffering to us and the whole world.”

Iroh studied Zuko for a few seconds before taking a look around the room. He finally looked at Zuko again, a small smile on his lips, as if he had just won a game of Pai Sho. “You’re not my Zuko, are you?”

Zuko let out a shuddering breath, head nodding.

“Spirits are powerful beings, known to not care about such things as time and space,” Iroh said. “For an individual to be caught in the doings of the Spirits, they must have done something great. What happened, Prince Zuko?”

“I died,” Zuko said and saying it aloud brought a new sense of sadness to him. He truly died, it was such a weird thing to think about.

Zuko hadn’t seen Iroh for months after Lu Ten died so he didn’t know how grief showed in his uncle’s face, but he decided that he didn’t like it.

“There are so many things I have to tell you and there is so little time,” Zuko went to run a hand through his hair, once again forgetting that he had a pony tail and so he clenched his fists instead.

“Prince Zuko.” Iroh took hold of his hands. “Start from the beginning,” he advised gently.

And Zuko did. He talked about Ba Sing Se, about the people he met, about the tea shop, about betraying Iroh, about going back to the palace and thinking that it was finally over, he had his honor back, he talked about how wrong he was. He explained what happened the day of The Black Sun and how he stood up to his father and how he ran away and followed the Avatar and how he taught the Avatar firebending. He talked about the dragons with a giddy smile and excitement in his eyes and then he stopped because he was about to talk about his death.

“And then, yesterday night,” Zuko said, “at least yesterday night for me but now I’m not so sure –this is so confusing,” he trailed off.

“Take a deep breath, nephew,” Iroh said in that calm voice of his and Zuko did.

“Katara and I went to the palace to confront Azula last night,” he started, breath already picking up slightly. “She was almost through with her coronation but we stopped it and she challenged me to an Agni Kai.”

He looked at his uncle then with wide eyes. “She was completely crazy, uncle! She had chopped her hair and was laughing while attacking and then she used lighting. I was going to change its course but she aimed at Katara instead and I ran in front of her and it hit me and Katara wasn’t fast enough with her healing water and.” Zuko took a breath, “and I died.”

He wasn’t looking at his uncle when he spoke next. “I opened my eyes and I was here and then Agni appeared and told me that my death wasn’t planned and that I got a second chance and to not waste it,” he finished with a sigh.

When Zuko finally looked back at Iroh, he saw his uncle looking at him with soft eyes and a proud smile. “You have been granted a great gift, Prince Zuko.” Iroh moved around the table until he was right next to Zuko. “And I am so, so proud to call you my nephew.” He then pulled Zuko in for a hug, one that the teenager gladly accepted and returned.

“We have many things to do, dear nephew. But first, we should inform the crew.”

“You think I should tell them the truth?”

“If we are to stop our search for the Avatar so suddenly, they will be suspicious. They are smart and have good morals and I’ve grown to know them well in our three years at the sea.”

Zuko wished he had known them himself in his previous life, but maybe, he’d get another chance this time.

“Okay,” Zuko said, letting out a deep breath and standing up. “Could you please gather them all at the front of the ship? I need to gather my thoughts.”

“Of course,” Iroh said and patted him on the shoulder. “Come up whenever you’re ready.”

And then he was gone.

Zuko decided that the best way for him to gather his thoughts was to meditate. He lit up three candles and sat in front of them, breathing deep, the flames breathing with him. In his previous life, he wasn’t the best at meditating. Only after the Dragons had he finally found meditating to be calming instead of boring, peaceful instead of thought jarring.

As he continued to meditate, he could feel a strange air in the room. Too heavy but not hostile, hot but not burning. He cautiously opened his eyes and saw a bright flame a few feet away from him.

“Agni,” he said and bowed.

 **“Young Prince,”** the Spirit greeted back.

“Is everything alright?” he asked, worried he did something wrong. Was he not allowed to talk about his past life? “Did I do something wrong?”

 **“Do not worry, Prince Zuko,”** Agni said. **“I am here to give you a warning.”**

“A warning?”

**“Destiny has decided to meddle with your second chance. Someone from your previous life has their memories back and you are destined to meet them.”**

Zuko’s mind went to all the people he had met in his previous life, good and bad, friend and foe and decided that they were too many.

“Why?” Zuko couldn’t help but ask.

**“I do not know, Prince Zuko. Destiny works in mysterious ways.”**

Zuko couldn’t argue with that.

“Do I know them?” He asked. He was secretly hopping it was someone from his friend group because that would make the whole situation easier, but Agni’s next words quickly snuffed out that hope.

**“Do not allow them to harm you, Prince Zuko, and do not harm them. That’s all I am allowed to say.”**

And just like earlier, Agni was gone.

Zuko decided that the first thing he was going to do after talking to his crew would be to cut his ponytail off because he was really starting to miss running his hands through his hair.

He went to the front of the ship where he found the whole crew. Some were sitting, some were standing, and all were looking at him as he walked towards them.

All in all, Zuko’s crew wasn’t big. There was a cook, a medic, an engineer and about seven soldiers, five of them benders, excluding Zuko and Iroh. Zuko hadn’t had the time to mourn for them in his previous life.

Lieutenant Jee was the first to speak. “What’s going on?”

Zuko knew that Iroh hadn’t revealed anything to the crew, but he had told them enough to make them give up their post and listen. Zuko was relieved; he didn’t know if he could manage to do that.

He didn’t know where to start though. Talking to uncle Iroh has been easy, it was uncle. The crew was different. He didn’t know them and he hadn’t made the effort to in his previous life.

He knew their names and if they were a bender or not, but that was it. He was aware that being part of his crew was deemed a punishment so each one of them must have done something relatively bad before to end up with him, but he didn’t know what it was. Zuko wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

Zuko took a deep breath. “I’m stopping my hunt for the Avatar,” he said.

There was silence. Zuko looked at each and every one of his crew’s faces and only found shock and confusion. Uncle was calmly sipping his tea.

Zuko sighed. “Let me explain.” And so he did. He explained about what happened in his previous life for the second time that day. He left no detail out, at least not about anything that had to do with them. And when he finished, most of them had sat down, heads in their hands and shoulders tight.

“Can we see it?” Asked Omao. He was the third youngest soldier of them all, only 25 and he was not a bender. “Your fire?”

Zuko had told them about the dragons. He felt like he had to. He was telling them to become traitors, the least he could give them was the glimpse of a legend.

He nodded and put a hand out. Not even Iroh had seen it, eyes glued on the flames that were no other color than the usual red, but it was different. It spoke of warmth and not of destruction.

Lieutenant Jee let out a sigh, the sound shaking towards the end of it. “When are the pirates coming?” he asked.

“Tomorrow night,” Zuko replied, wincing at the memory. He had had many close calls in his previous life and he never liked to remember them.

“And what are we going to do now?” Said the cook, an old man named Orim. Zuko wished he knew more about him.

He had thought briefly about a plan, but nothing concrete had been created yet. He couldn’t give them much yet. “I think the best course of action will be to abandon this ship,” Zuko said slowly, biting the inside of his cheek as he looked at each of their reactions.

He carried on when no one objected. “Zhao and the pirates already know how the ship looks. They managed to get close enough to kill me once, they could do it again.” Zuko purposely refused to look at Iroh as he said the last part.

“So, we abandon ship, then what?” Zuko didn’t know the name of the soldier who spoke and he clenched his fists momentarily. He would do better this time around, he swore.

“There’s a fire nation village west to the ship’s location,” he answered, looking up at the sky. “It’s probably been weeks since Aang was there so any signs of Zhao should be gone now,” he said, voice borderline a murmur as he spoke of things that made sense only to him. He looked at his crew. “We can go there and regroup.”

An uneasy feeling was slowly taking form in his stomach as he slowly went back to his words, replaying them over in his head. “You’re all free to leave,” he finally said. They all looked at him, shocked. He raised his shoulders on a small helpless shrug. “You don’t have to stay. You can go back to your families and homes. You don’t have to become traitors.”

There was silence before a soldier stepped forward. They took off their helmet and Zuko realized that it was Ukiyo, the only female soldier on his crew. “With all due respect, Prince Zuko,” she said, taking a bow and straightening up a few seconds later. “We all spent the last three years in this ship with you and pledged our loyalty to you. We’re not taking the easy way out.”

Agreements broke out among the crew and Zuko was too speechless and shocked to notice his uncle coming by his side.

“Good people,” he said. “They are good people, Prince Zuko.”

Zuko couldn’t agree more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! Here's chapter two of the story, I hope you'll like it!!
> 
> I really love the characters I created for Zuko's crew and I hope you'll like them too. We'll see more of each one in the following chapters!
> 
> Enjoy~!

Ukiyo was a good judge of character. She took pride in that fact, she marveled in it, smiling smugly whenever she was right about someone that other people weren’t.

The first time she met Prince Zuko, she thought of him as a snotty little brat that had too much power to properly know what to do with. And she had been right about him. Finding the Avatar was a pipe dream, impossible in every sense. But then, Prince Zuko had gone and done the impossible and had found the Avatar.

Finding the Avatar and capturing him were two completely different things, as the crew slowly learned. The Avatar was a master at running away, escaping just under their noses, leaving their Prince even more frustrated, leaving him to take all his anger out on them.

Now, Ukiyo wasn’t good with kids. She had no intention on having any, she was perfectly fine to just look from afar. Prince Zuko wasn’t a kid, but Ukiyo often found that teenagers had a way of acting even more childish that kids sometimes.

But then again, the only contact Ukiyo has had with teenagers was Prince Zuko and the four earth kingdom boys she refused to slaughter that made her end up in this crew.

Those four boys had been shaking with fear, all huddled together, the oldest of them no less that seventeen and the youngest of them no more that thirteen. Her orders had been clear that night; kill anyone you find that isn’t fire nation. They were the first people she had found, her hands ablaze, but their whimpers had slowly snuffed the flames out.

She had only thought about it for a second before sharply shushing them, all four boys going silent immediately. She had crouched down then, closer to the youngest of them, the other three pulling him closer to them and away from her. She couldn’t even blame them for that, no matter how much the sting had hurt her. Ukiyo was a lot of things, but she refused to become a murderer.

When she had been sure that no other fire nation soldier was close to them, she had looked at them.

“There’s an empty house at the corner,” she had whispered at them. “Go there and hide. Do not come out until it’s morning.”

Their orders had been clear. Kill anyone who wasn’t fire nation. But only kill people if they were out. They weren’t allowed to enter houses. That was mostly the reason Ukiyo had agreed to take part in this mission. Not that she had a choice in the matter, but it brought her some peace of mind.

The four boys had looked at her distrustfully, and she couldn’t really blame them, but they were running out of time, another fire nation soldier would come and there would be nothing she could do to save them.

“Now,” she had hissed at them, her hands ablaze once again, and they quickly stood up, Ukiyo a step behind them, until they were in the house, door locked and windows closed.

She had let out a sigh when they were inside and had went away after only a quick look at her surroundings. She hadn’t found anyone else outside that night, but the smell of burned flesh in the air was enough a telling for her to know that other soldiers hadn’t been that unlucky.

Ukiyo didn’t know how the Lieutenant found out what she did, only that the next morning she was informed that she would join Prince Zuko’s crew.

She had walked through the small village that morning, making her way towards the sea, and she had passed the small house at the corner, only to find it burned to the ground.

She had swallowed down her bile at the sight and had moved on. Nothing she could do with ashes, though she whispered a small prayer for the four teenagers. She didn’t know what Spirits they worshiped, but she hoped Agni would lay them to rest.

Now, Prince Zuko was at the front of the ship with Lieutenant Jee, talking about the ship’s course. They would be at the fire nation village tomorrow at midday if they continued at the same pace.

Ukiyo had found it strange, like the whole crew had. Maybe _strange_ wasn’t the right word. Impossible; yeah, that was the right word. What Prince Zuko spoke of was simply impossible. And yet, his fire was different. Warm and beautiful in ways no fire could ever be. And yet.

She remembered the old stories her grandma used to tell her about the Old Masters, dragons who breathed fire in colors people could never even imagine in ever seeing and Ukiyo would listen in awe before a gentle sleep enveloped her.

“The first thing we should do before we leave the fire nation village is to cut our hair,” Prince Zuko said.

Lieutenant Jee looked at him in confusion.

“All the men in this crew have a fire nation top knot,” Zuko explained, tugging his pony tail with clear distaste. “People would know we’re fire nation immediately.”

Lieutenant Jee nodded in understanding. Ukiyo liked him a good amount. He was just and while easy to lose his temper if he was against a stupid idea, no one could blame him. Agni knows how many times the crew needed a minute to breathe after Prince Zuko had said something.

General Iroh seemingly appeared by their side out of nowhere. “I do believe that it is time for dinner,” he said, pleasantly. “Prince Zuko, would you eat up here with the rest of us?”

In all of the three years in the sea with Prince Zuko, Ukiyo had never seen him eat with them.

Prince Zuko gave a hesitant nod and Lieutenant Jee gathered the map they were talking over, clearing the little table.

Usually, the crew ate dinner at wherever their post was, but that night it was different. They allowed themselves the luxury of relaxing, to actually think things through. Their whole life was going to change.

The dinner started off awkward. No one knew how to act around the Prince, and clearly, neither did he. He kept his eyes on his food, but he only picked on it.

Ukiyo looked around the crew, all of them stealing glances at the Prince, no one knew how to make conversation. She caught the eyes of Sima and raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged back at her.

Sima was a firebender like her, but after an accident where his left leg had been crashed under a rock, he had stopped fighting.

Ukiyo huffed at his unwillingness to make a conversation and tried to find something to say, but someone else was faster.

“How’s the North Pole like?” Akan asked. Akan was the youngest of the crew, just turned 20 a few weeks ago. He was quiet and soft spoken, aware that everyone else was in this crew as a form of punishment whereas he _chose to._

Prince Zuko looked startled at the question and Akan quickly bowed, apologies almost out before Zuko spoke.

“No, no, it’s okay, you just surprised me,” Prince Zuko said and Akan slowly leaned back. “Uhm,” Prince Zuko started. “Can you tell me your name?”

Akan wasn’t the only one shocked. Almost all of the crew had a look of bewilderment on their faces, everyone except General Iroh who continued to eat with a happy hum.

“It’s Akan, your Highness.”

Prince Zuko tried out the word in his mouth before speaking it. “Akan. You just turned 20 a few weeks ago, right? Happy birthday.”

Akan looked like he could faint any second. “T-thank you, your Highness,” he stammered and Ukiyo had to try and mask her snort.

“To answer your question,” Prince Zuko said. “The North Pole is cold.”

Akan gaped at him. _That was it?_

But Prince Zuko carried on, “Everything is made of ice and snow and the architecture is amazing.” Prince Zuko talked a little more about the North Pole, about its people and things that he already knew from research.

The crew grew more relaxed after that, conversation becoming easier, things they talked about days before appearing again, both so Prince Zuko could learn more about them, but also because they _just felt like it._

* * *

They arrived at the fire nation village at midday just like they had planned to. The port wasn’t the biggest Zuko had ever seen, but that was a given. This was just a village. But it was big enough to accommodate at least a dozen ships comfortably.

Zuko had been there before, a long time ago, when his mother was still with him and his family was what could be considered as happy. They had come to the village for the festival and it was one of the prettiest nights of Zuko’s life. He couldn’t really remember it.

Now, though, they were there for a reason. The festival had come and go, the streets returning to their usual busyness of people selling and buying stuff for their homes and families. Zuko liked that normality more than he liked the busy streets of people yelling their discounts on things you could live without.

“I think it’ll be better if we packed all of our things today and spend the next three in the market,” Zuko said at the crew.

They had decided that it would be better if they spent just three days in this village. Enough time to buy all their necessities and find a new ship.

There were no objections, and after the crew decided who was going to be on guard and for how long, Zuko went to his room to start packing his things.

Even after spending three years on a ship, Zuko didn’t have many belongings except from things he absolutely needed.

Clothes and undergarments were easily managed and quickly shoved into a deep red sack. Zuko decided to leave the fire nation decorations up for the next owner of the ship to decide what to do with.

After finishing with his things, he kneeled by the side of his bed and pulled a chest from underneath it. It was an old chest, big, but blended perfectly well with the dark wood of the bed. Only Zuko knew that it was there.

He opened it and took out the two twin swords and a blue Oni mask. If things went right, then he wouldn’t need to use the mask, but the swords were a must. He didn’t spend more time than he needed to looking at them and so he put them in another sack, putting some more clothes and parchment paper on top of them.

Zuko decided to go to his uncle’s room. Agni knew how many things his uncle had bought in their three years in the sea and the old man would surely need any help he could get.

He gave a soft knock on the door before entering, biting back a groan at the mess he came across.

There were clothes and decorated fans all around, knickknacks of various sizes across the bed and floor and Uncle. Uncle, who was playing a game of Pai Sho with Tora, the engineer.

Zuko sighed. “Uncle, you should be packing not playing,” he said.

Uncle Iroh did not seem bothered to have his game disturbed, merely waved Tora away with a smile that spoke of mischief and beckoned Zuko towards him. The engineer bowed to Zuko as he walked towards the door and Zuko hurried and bowed back before the older man left. Once Tora was out, Zuko closed the door and turned towards his uncle.

“Really,” Zuko started. “You really need to pack.”

“Oh, but why start when I already knew you’d be here to help me?” Uncle said, smile big and eyes crinkling at the corners.

Zuko decided to not answer, already knowing that he had lost the battle just by coming there. He started picking up items from the floor, showing them to Uncle with a raised eyebrow every time, wordlessly asking if they were important.

“You should have seen Tora play,” Uncle said a few minutes later. Zuko had moved to the clothing. “He was a few moves away from winning.”

Zuko hummed, almost absent minded. But he was paying enough attention to comment, “You could have just used the white lotus tile to win.”

He stole a look at Uncle only to see the older man looking at him with a thoughtful expression, hand on his beard. Slowly, Zuko realized that _this_ Uncle didn’t know that he knew about the White Lotus.

_‘Well, it was bound to come up someday,’_ he thought and placed the clothing item he was holding into the bag before sitting across from Uncle.

“You know about the White Lotus,” Uncle said, simple and to the point.

Zuko nodded. “I knew about them in my, well, _previous_.” he cleared his throat. “They helped us during Sozin’s comet and they were planning on taking back Ba Sing Se. I don’t know if they succeeded, since, you know,” he trailed off.

“You should probably alert them that I stopped my hunt for the Avatar,” Zuko said and stood up, planning on continuing to pack Uncle’s clothes when he felt a hand on his arm, stopping him.

“You’ve already packed most of my things, I can deal with the clothes,” Uncle said, smiling up at him. “Go and see if any of the crew needs any help.”

Zuko had refusal on the tip of his tongue, but he had promised himself that he would be better with his crew this time around and so he nodded, dreading the awkwardness that was sure to come but knowing that he could push through it.

He decided to go up to the deck to see if they needed help to move the bigger things around. He could do that easily. He wouldn’t need to make conversation for that. It was preferable to helping them pack their personal belongings. There would be stories behind each item, things that Zuko wouldn’t be comfortable to know, at least not yet.

The deck wasn’t as bad as he thought it’d be. Sure, there were things all around, tables with missing legs and chairs that had seen better days that were going to be disposed of first thing the next morning. But, it was not bad. Zuko didn’t know if that was because the crew took good care of their things and wished to keep them, or if they didn’t have that many things in the first place.

He saw Akan struggling with a heavy dresser that had many burn marks all over and he walked over to help carry it towards the pile of similar looking furniture.

Once they put it away, Akan quickly bent to a bow, hands making a perfect flame in front of him, “Thank you for your help, your Highness.”

Zuko rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact. “It’s fine,” he said, relaxing some when Akan straightened up. “We’ll finish much faster if I help anyway,” he said.

He thought he saw Akan smile but it was gone within a second so Zuko gave a nod and turned around to go help some more.

* * *

The plan was to destroy everything they had no use for, but in the end, they decided to sell them. Even if the old furniture weren’t going to get them much, money was still money and everything would be useful for their trips.

And so, when morning came, the crew decided to take everything they didn’t want down from the deck and onto the street below. Uncle had decided to stay on the ship with Orim the cook, and Tora the engineer, and Zuko was more than happy to agree, knowing that if Uncle was left in the market, they would have more new things than old.

Lieutenant Jee agreed to stay with the things they were planning on selling, along with Yusok, the medic and Nosek, a soldier, leaving the other five remaining soldiers of the crew, excluding Zuko, to go into the market.

They quickly broke into groups of twos, Ukiyo taking Sima by the arm and pulling him towards a vendor who was selling pots and trays. They all knew about the plan on making their new ship a portable tea shop, so when they passed some vendors selling napkins and aprons, Omao and Akan were the ones to go.

Zuko was left alone with Rejok. The older man was gentle in his nature, Zuko had never heard him raise his voice even in the most difficult of situations, and though that calmed him, it also made him nervous. But the soldier was silent by his side, not trying to make small talk, mainly just looking at the different vendors for something that would be useful.

“I think,” Zuko started because _damn it he had promised to try_ , “we should look for furniture that would fit a tea shop.”

“Of course, Prince Zuko,” Rejok said with a deep nod.

Zuko clicked his tongue. “Don’t call me by my name or status around here,” he said, sharper than he wanted to. “People will overhear.”

Rejok didn’t respond but continued to walk next to him.

“Call me Lee,” Zuko said. “At least when we are around civilians.”

“Of course, Lee,” Rejok said, smiling around the name. Zuko thought that the man had a nice smile.

* * *

Going back to the ship, there were significantly less furniture around. Gone were most dressers and desks, as well as some fire nation tapestries that were still in good quality.

Shopping had gone well too, at least from what the others had told Zuko. Small items had been purchased on the spot, while bigger ones, like tables, pots and other tea making things, were arranged to be picked up tomorrow afternoon.

“Prince Zuko,” Lieutenant Jee greeted him when he saw him.

“Don’t call him that,” Rejok spoke before Zuko could. “He’s Lee when we’re in public.”

Jee looked at Rejok with a raised eyebrow, but when there was no objection from Zuko, he merely nodded.

“We’ve almost sold all of our things,” Jee said. “There has been an arrangement for the final dresser to be sold later this noon as well.”

Zuko nodded. He took a half step before pausing, trying to make up his mind if he should say something or not, but decided to go find Uncle instead. He got on the ship, leaving the rest of the crew behind.

Jee turned to Rejok. “How was it?”’

“Civil,” Rejok said with a shrug, but there was a small smile of amusement playing on his lips. “Awkward.”

“I don’t think he knows how to talk to us,” Akan said. He tensed up when they all turned and looked at him, but after a few seconds he relaxed. “He told us that we all died in his.” He rubbed the back of his neck and looked around before continuing, “ _previous_ , and he’s suddenly waking up and having us alive.”

“So what are you proposing?” Sima asked, arms crossed in front of his chest, not for any other reason other than the fact that he found it comfortable that way.

Akan looked startled. “M-me?”

Ukiyo smirked at him. “Yes, you,” she said. “You’re the only brave one who actually said what everyone else was thinking.”

“He’s lonely,” Akan said. “He needs friends.”

“You’re the closest to his age,” Omao pointed out. Akan gaped at him.

“Doesn’t mean that I have to be the only one to befriend him!”

Lieutenant Jee rolled his eyes at them, deciding to put an end to it before it escalated.

“We’ll all try and be friendly with him,” he said, his voice carrying authority that had all of them pay attention. “After we leave this port, we won’t be fire nation anymore; we’ll be traitors. It doesn’t matter if he’s Zuko or Lee, he will be a traitor just like us.” He looked at each of them before continuing, “Traitors need to stick together.”

He caused a few smiles with that, Sima even snorted.

* * *

They had dinner on the deck that night as well. Conversation came easier, more relaxed, jokes were exchanged every few words and the food tasted good, both because it was, but also because food always tasted better when you were in good company.

But Zuko wasn’t eating. He was staring at the moon.

Iroh followed his gaze and sighed. “Prince Zuko,” he gently admonished. “You must eat.”

“I’m not hungry,” Zuko mumbled, pushing his food around his plate. His eyes went back to the moon, almost full, and so perfectly _white._

“What’s on your mind, dear nephew?” Iroh tried again, thinking that if Zuko talked about his troubles, they might leave him alone for tonight.

“The moon,” Zuko answered, silencing any idle chatter from the crew, instantly drawing their attention to him. “It will happen tomorrow night,” Zuko said.

The crew looked among them.

“The siege of the North?” Lieutenant Jee asked.

Zuko shook his head, eyes never leaving the moon. “That’s already happening.”

Finally, after what felt like hours, Zuko looked at them. “Zhao will kill the Moon tomorrow night.”

“That’s impossible,” Uncle hissed from next to him, sharp and powerful, Zuko felt it in his bones.

He looked at his hands. “He found out that the two spirits Tui and La have manifested into the mortal world. He will kill the Moon Spirit so the water benders lose their powers, but.” Zuko paused. “Once the Moon Spirit dies, the Avatar will merge with the Ocean Spirit and kill every fire nation soldier in its path.”

Zuko had told his crew that they die in the Siege of the North, but he hadn’t told them _how._

“The Princess of the Northern Water Tribe gave her life for the Moon to live and so, the Siege was over and the entirety of the Fire Nation navy was gone,” Zuko finished.

“Spirits,” came the whisper from Ukiyo.

Every plate that had food in it was not touched for the rest of the evening.

* * *

The next morning came quietly and almost too fast for any of their liking. They were supposed to look for clothing that day, preferably clothes that looked like they belonged to people from the colonies, deep greens and browns, instead of bright reds.

They split up the same as they did the previous day, Lieutenant Jee staying behind with Yusok and Nosek to sell the last of their things.

The day passed way faster than Zuko thought it would. Finding and buying clothes was easy and Zuko had even bought Uncle a few items he thought the older man would like.

The rest of the furniture were gone when they finally returned to their ship, bags of clothes hanging from their arms.

“I asked some people if they have ships for sails,” Jee said, giving Zuko a piece of paper. “They’re expecting two of us tomorrow morning.”

Zuko nodded at him, reading the address on the paper. “I’ll go give it to Uncle. Thank you.”

Jee watched him go with something akin to wonder in his eyes.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard him say thank you before,” Sima said, causing most to chuckle.

Jee snapped out of it and sent him a glare. “Yusok, Nosek and I are going to buy some clothes.” He turned to Rejok, “You’re in charge of them.”

* * *

Night came quickly, and with it came a sense of impending doom. They were going to sell the ship tomorrow, probably for her to be broken down into pieces, metal taken and forged into new things. Zuko wished the new parts would stay away from blood and war.

They hadn’t talked about it, but the whole crew had agreed that no one would be sleeping that night. Every pair of eyes were on the Moon, bright and powerful and still _there._

Zuko was sitting a little further away from the rest of his crew. He hadn’t had the time to mourn for them in his _previous_ and Agni forgive him, it never passed his mind to do so. And as he waited for the Moon to die, he felt like he didn’t deserve to be near them.

The _Wani_ gently rocked underneath his feet, a pleasant lullaby in a night that was anything but.

It was going to happen soon, Zuko was sure of his timeline, but he still felt his breath leave his lungs when people started screaming in the streets.

The Moon was red.

Red like blood, bright and difficult to look at. Zuko felt a hand close around his wrist and he jumped, only to realize that it was Uncle, pulling him towards the rest of the crew who had huddled in together, heads upwards and eyes unblinking, taking in the horror.

The Moon was red. And then it was gone.

There were more screams in the streets now, people coming out of their houses to see what the commotion was all about, hands in front of gaping mouths and eyes wide. Parents were holding their children close to them, elderly were praying to the Sprits for something that was caused by humans and the Moon was gone.

The Moon was gone. And then the waves started. Without the Moon, there was nothing to control the tides. Only a grief stricken Ocean Spirit.

The gentle rocking of the ship was no more, instead there were cups and plates crashing to the deck as the crew tried to keep themselves on their feet. Uncle’s hand around his wrist was tight enough to bruise but Zuko didn’t care. His eyes were on the sky, a dark nothingness with only small specks of white and he couldn’t help but think that the stars looked awfully lonely.

As quickly as it started, the waves stopped, going back to their previous gentle rocking and Zuko didn’t blink as the Moon appeared on the sky, bright and powerful once again.

Slowly, Uncle’s hand left his wrist and Zuko found himself wishing for it to get back, ground him, for he looked at his crew and realized with a chocked off breath, that in another life, they would be dead now.

And they must have realized it as well because one by one, they all turned and looked at him, eyes wide and glassy, young and old and Zuko ran to the side of the ship and threw up.

Someone came up next to him on his left side and he felt them more than he saw them, but something told him that it wasn’t Uncle.

Zuko wiped his mouth and straightened up, turned his head and found Akan.

Akan didn’t say anything and just stood there by his side, looking at the now calm ocean as if he was in a trance.

“It’s over now,” Zuko said, voice rough from throwing up, and he cleared his throat and swallowed, wincing at the disgusting taste.

Akan gave a single nod, fists tightened by his sides and then finally, he looked at Zuko.

“Permission to act freely, sir?”

It was not what Zuko expected to hear but he gave a tentative nod. “Permission granted.”

Akan took a step forward and then another, until he was right in front of Zuko and in a lighting fast move, Akan hugged Zuko, tightly and only for a second before he pulled away and walked towards the rest of the crew without looking at Zuko.

Zuko could count all the hugs he ever got as a teenager in one hand and Akan’s, as brief as it was, was one of the most meaningful ones.

* * *

The next morning came with Uncle leaving with Lieutenant Jee and Nosek to go and buy a new ship. Good lucks were exchanged even though they were not needed. No one in their good mind would refuse to sell something to the Dragon of the West, even if they didn’t know that it was him.

There was nothing else to do other than wait around the _Wani,_ Zuko walking along her corridors, wishing her goodbye and good luck, _maybe I’ll meet you again, in another life, in another form._

He paused in front of his old room. Three years he had spent there, countless nights awake, agonizing over maps, chasing a believed-to-be ghost only to realize that the chase was for nothing. He had died anyways.

Thinking of ways to become productive, an idea struck him and he went up to the main deck. The rest of the crew were around, Tora, the engineer, packing the final few items he was going to take with him and Yusok, the medic, doing the same in his quarters.

He caught the attention of Sima who stood up straight when he saw him, elbowing Ukiyo to the side, earning himself a slap on the back of the head.

“Prince Zuko,” Sima greeted him with a deep nod, Ukiyo following suit.

Zuko nodded back at them, suddenly awkward. “I thought now would be a good time to cut our top knots,” he said.

Sima perked up at the suggestion and left to go find a pair of scissors, leaving Ukiyo and Zuko alone.

“Do you really think cutting our hair will help?” Ukiyo asked.

Zuko looked startled by the question but quickly found his words. “People know how Fire Nation soldiers look like,” he said, tugging lightly at his ponytail with visible disdain. “But take that away, and suddenly, we’re people from the colonies, refugees, just like them.”

“I’ve always wanted to try short hair,” Ukiyo said, touching the ends of her ponytail. Without her armor helmet, she usually just wore it up and away from her face, easier to manage with.

“You don’t have to cut it,” Zuko said, suddenly realizing that Ukiyo was female. Hair meant something different to girls, he remembered from watching Katara carefully combing hers while Sokka just put his in his usual wolf tail, uncombed bed hair and all.

Ukiyo gave him a smile, small and warm. “It’s fine, really. Long hair is a menace to manage.”

The only thing Zuko ever did to his hair was comb it every morning he woke up and put it in its usual high ponytail, so he nodded in silent agreement, secretly hopping Ukiyo wouldn’t ask him for any tips on how to take care of hair.

Sima came back soon enough, the rest of the crew trailing behind him. Zuko inwardly sighed. At least, he didn’t have to go to each one of them. Maybe he’d thank Sima somehow.

“Does anyone have any experience with cutting hair?” Zuko asked after no one did anything for several seconds.

There was silence. He tried not to groan.

“I guess it doesn’t have to be perfect since we’re trying to seem like refugees,” he muttered, taking out one of his small knifes he always kept in his boots. He took hold of his ponytail like he had done in his _previous_ and quickly passed the blade through it, his head feeling lighter almost instantly and he knew that it was both from the physical loss of hair but also from what they represented.

“Well then,” Sima said. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that with the scissors.” He was suddenly holding a knife of his own, seemingly out of nowhere, but Zuko knew that it must have come from _somewhere_ and that was probably the inside of Sima’s sleeve.

His hair wasn’t as long as Zuko’s and he wore it in the traditional Fire Nation top knot so even if he did cut that, he’d have to do more work if he wanted his hair shorter.

“Cutting just your top knot will be enough,” Zuko said. He felt like it was needed to be said. They didn’t have to drastically change their hair. The slightly sinister smiles of his crew reminded him a little too much of Toph for him to do anything else that sigh fondly.

* * *

It was midday when Uncle returned with Lieutenant Jee and Nosek, all three relaxed and with smiles on their faces so Zuko figured that the negotiations had gone well.

“Oh my,” Uncle said when he saw them, all with different haircuts. His eyes stayed on Zuko longer than they did to the others but Zuko had been expecting it.

In his _previous_ , he only had left a small patch of hair on the top of his scalp, but this time, Yusok had taken a look at the sad excuse of hair and had sighed so loudly, Zuko hadn’t even tried to object when the medic offered to shave it off. So now, Zuko was bald. He wasn’t worried though. His hair always grew at an alarmingly fast pace so it would only be a couple of weeks before he had a considerable fuzz.

Ukiyo had cut her hair slightly shorter than her chin, a drastic change from before where her hair almost reached the middle of her back. It was a little uneven but she seemed happy with it and so Zuko chose to be happy for her too.

Yusok had decided to only cut his top knot and Orim and Tora followed along, holding them afterwards with something akin to pain in their eyes. Zuko could sympathize but he was pleasantly surprised when Orim just burned his, soundlessly reaching for Yusok and Tora’s ones as well, the two other crew members not being firebenders to do so themselves.

At the start, Sima had wanted to only cut his top knot as well, but Ukiyo had bullied him into doing more and so Sima’s hair were long enough to cover his ears, but just so.

Omao and Akan had cut their hair similarly that if someone didn’t know them, he’d consider them twins. Maybe, that would work in their favor.

“I see you’ve been productive,” Uncle said, amusement in his eyes after he finished examining every haircut.

Zuko didn’t have a good enough an answer for that. “Everything’s alright with the ship negotiations?” He asked instead.

Uncle smiled at him in the way that Zuko knew meant that Uncle knew more than he said. He tried to smile back.

“She’s beautiful, Prince Zuko. Enough room for everyone to be comfortable, though I fear that some of the crew will have to share a room,” he said, nodding in apology, even if it was no needed. The crew quickly reassured him of that.

“And did you find her okay to be a tea shop?” Strangely, that was Zuko’s deepest concern. If Uncle didn’t find a ship that could be transformed into a tea shop, then the whole plan was useless.

“She’ll need a little love, but I’m sure she’ll be wonderful when we’re done with her. Do not worry Prince Zuko, everything will be alright!”

Zuko thought that he wasn’t that lucky for everything to be alright, but he bit his tongue. Maybe trusting his Uncle when he said so would be enough this time around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ask me stuff on [my tumblr!](https://mycapofjetko.tumblr.com/)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter! More coming soon!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!! More to come soon!


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